


Mackerel and chocolate go well together?

by astralsakura23



Category: Free!
Genre: Fluff, Love Confessions, M/M, Valentine's Day, Valentine's Day Fluff, slight angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-16
Updated: 2015-02-16
Packaged: 2018-03-13 06:03:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,235
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3370541
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/astralsakura23/pseuds/astralsakura23
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written for the first day of the MakoHaru festival 2015 :) You can find more written entries as well as fanart and RP at http://theofficialmakoharufestival.tumblr.com/ :D</p><p>Makoto has new found feelings about Haru but doesn't know how to confess. Also, gratuitous ReiGisa 'cause I love them too much not to let them participate in this little tale XD</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mackerel and chocolate go well together?

“Haru…Ha-…Haru..!”

Winter sun rays peaked through his window and he could hear the birds chirping outside his balcony. His alarm was set to 7 a.m. but he had woken up slightly earlier…yet again.

It was the third time this week and he wasn’t sure whether to feel ashamed or angry at himself. Having such inappropriate dreams about your childhood friend was not good at all.

 _“Maybe I’m just stressed about school…or maybe I shouldn’t have ramen for dinner again…”_ he thought, trying to find a reasonable explanation for all of this and put his mind at ease.

_“Well…I’ll try not to overthink it…they’re just weird dreams…I should get changed before it gets late.”_

~

He rang the bell to Haru’s apartment. And then again…and again…no response coming from inside at all.

“Jeez…I guess it can’t be helped…he must be in the tub as usual…Haru! I’m going in!”

He opened the door, which was unlocked as usual too, and started taking of his shoes, but nothing prepared him for the sight he encountered before he could even make it past the entrance.

There he was, splayed all over his futon on the tatami floor…sleeping soundly. His hair a mess, his well-defined abs showing from under his slightly pulled up t-shirt and with what looked like a light blush on his cheeks.

“…”

Makoto’s heart started racing and he could feel the heat crawling up his entire body. Not able to move a muscle, he just stood there, like an ice sculpture on the verge of melting on the entrance.

 _“This is not good…not good at all…”_ he thought, finally starting to regain some control over his own body.

 _“But he looks so cute…”_ muttered an unfamiliar voice inside his mind.

“Wha-?! No!! What the hell am I thinking?!” he yelled while shaking his head, unaware that he had said that out loud.

“Uh…? Mako-to..?”

“Eh?! Ha-Haru?! You’re awake?!”

“I..I thought I heard your voice…” Haru responded while getting half-up and rubbing the sleep off his eyes.

 _“So cute…”_ whispered the unfamiliar voice inside Makoto’s brain again.

“Ah!...so-sorry!” Makoto mumbled, not sure if he was apologizing for waking Haru up or for the things going through his mind at the moment “Bu-but…why are you sleeping so late? We’re supposed to be at the train station in half an hour!”

“Ah…right…I’ll go change…” answered the other boy in his natural monotone voice.

“We-well…do it quickly…we’re already short on time…” Makoto insisted, not sure if he had sounded too bossy.

“Ok..sorry…”

~

They barely made it to the train station on time and were now waiting on a bench in front of the platform. Since they’ve left Haru’s apartment, an awkward silence seemed to have fallen over their usually natural conversation. It felt so uncomfortable for Makoto not to be able to speak a single word, but he thought that if he opened his mouth, the newly awakened voice inside his head might take control and spurt something totally wrong and inappropriate towards his friend.

“Say…Makoto…” Haru spoke in a low voice “why were you looking at me so funny when I woke up?...” he asked with what sounded like embarrassment in his tone.

“Ah! Ah…we-well…” stuttered the taller boy completely caught off guard “uhm…I-I..I was just surprised to find you sleeping…you’re usually in the tub when I come pick you up every morning…” he replied “speaking of which…why were you still sleeping? And you were all over the floor too…I’ve never seen you make such a mess with your comforter…did you not sleep well?”

“Ah…yeah…I was having a weird dream…” explained Haru

“Were you having a nightmare?” asked Makoto again.

“Not exactly…” Haru replied, and though he thought he imagined it, Makoto noticed that light blush over Haru’s cheeks again.

But before he could inquire any further on the matter, a familiar voice reached them from the other side of the platform.

“Oooooooi~! Haru-chan!! Mako-chan!!” Nagisa yelled while waving his hand and walking toward the bench where they were sitting. Beside him, Rei was also waving at them, although not as enthusiastically as Nagisa.

“Nagisa! Rei!” Makoto called out as he and Haru got up to meet their friends.

“Haruka-senpai, Makoto-senpai, it’s been a while” said Rei as he greeted them.

“Sorry to keep you waiting, but our train was delayed because of the weather…” explained the blonde boy apologetically.

“It’s ok, we just got here too” replied Makoto with a gentle smile “so, shall we go then?”

“Yaaaaaaaaay!!” Nagisa cheered “let’s go explore Tokyo!”

~

“Whoaaaaa! You can see the whole city from here!” Nagisa exclaimed while looking through the windows of the Tokyo Tower observatory.

“And if you go to those screens and drag the time markers, you can see how the view changes through the day!” Makoto told him.

“That’s so cool! Hey Rei-chan! Let’s go see the screens!”

“Nagisa-kun, you shouldn’t be shouting like that…I can hear you perfectly…I’m right here beside you…” Rei answered.

“Awwww…don’t be like that Rei-chan! I’m just excited to be here with all of you!” whined Nagisa.

“I’m going to buy something from the café…” Haru said out of the blue “do you want anything, Makoto?” he asked.

“Ah! Ah…maybe just some coffee…Thanks Haru…”

“I’ll go with you, Haruka-senpai” said Rei, leaving Makoto and Nagisa alone.

“Hey, Mako-chan…” started Nagisa “I’ve been meaning to ask you…I hope you don’t mind but…you don’t look like your usual self today…did something happen between you and Haru-chan?”

“Eh?! Ah!...ah…we-well…” the tall boy stuttered caught off guard for the second time today “no…nothing happened…not…really…” he replied while feeling the heat on his face.

“What do you mean by ‘not really’?” asked Nagisa again looking at Makoto with his big curious eyes.

“It’s nothing…really…it’s more of a problem of mine rather than with Haru…b-but…no…nevermind…”

“Maybe you’ll feel better if you tell me about it” offered Nagisa with an honest smile “keeping something that’s troubling you for yourself for a long time is not good, you know?”

Makoto sighed. His friend was right. If there was someone Makoto could talk to in a totally open way besides Haru, it was Nagisa. And maybe by telling him, they could come up with an explanation for all of this mess inside his mind.

The tall boy explained everything that had happened: his recent dreams, the “incident” in Haru’s apartment that morning, and the weird voice that kept saying inappropriate things about Haru.

“So…now I don’t know what to do…” Makoto said finishing his story “I mean…I feel like the worst friend ever…I shouldn’t be thinking stuff like that…it’s just…I don’t know…”

“Mako-chan…do you love Haru-chan?” asked Nagisa in a calm tone.

“We-well…of course I love Haru…we’ve been friends since I can remember…we’ve been through so much together…I’d be lying if I told you I don’t love him…” replied Makoto while dropping his gaze to the floor.

“No but, I mean…are you…IN love with Haru-chan?”

“I-I…” Makoto tried to respond, but he really didn’t know how.

“Makoto-senpai, Nagisa-kun, we’re back” Rei interrupted while walking in their direction with Haru by his side carrying too cups of coffee.

“Here…” said Haru, offering Makoto one of the cups “I put two sugars and some milk in it…”

Makoto couldn’t help but smile.

“Thanks Haru, that’s just how I like it”

“In any case, Mako-chan, instead of thinking…” whispered Nagisa “try to figure out how you truly feel…ok?”

“Uh…ok…”

~

After saying goodbye to Makoto and Haru, Nagisa and Rei got on the train back to Iwatobi.

“Say, Nagisa-kun…what where you talking about with Makoto-senpai? He looked kind of troubled…”

“Hehehe…it seems they’re finally getting there…” replied the shorter boy.

“Uh? I don’t think I understand what you’re…”started Rei, but Nagisa interrupted him by snuggling into his arms.

“Let’s just say, I hope they figure it out just like we did.”

“Oh…I see…” said Rei smiling and holding Nagisa closer to him “by the way…are we…going to tell them?...about us, I mean..”

“Well, yeah…of course! But not now though. Don’t you think it’d be better if we wait after things get all sorted out between them?”

“I guess you’re right”

“I love you Rei-chan…” whispered Nagisa holding Rei tighter.

“I love you too, Nagisa-kun”

~

Back at his own apartment and after dropping Haru off at home, Makoto remembered what Nagisa had told him at the tower.

_“…try to figure out how you truly feel”_

_“Easier said than done…”_ Makoto thought letting out a deep sigh.

The line between loving Haru and being in love with him seemed to get thinner and thinner the more he thought about it. He remembered all those times he had to get into Haru’s home to help him out of the tub, all the afternoons they had spent doing homework, all the nights playing videogames and the warmth inside his chest every time he watched Haru swimming.

Maybe that was it. Maybe he just missed getting together with Haru like they did back in high school. They did see each other every day on their way to college and the sports center, and on their way back home after having dinner but, after all, between his classes and Haru’s training, there wasn’t much time left to do other stuff rather than sleeping.

 _“Hmmm…sleeping with Haru…”_ retorted that annoying voice again _“that would be very nice indeed…you know, having him in your arms…breathing that faint scent of chlorine off his skin…”_

“No! Stop it! I can’t…I don’t…!” Makoto exclaimed. The voice was getting louder and was driving him to the verge of tears.

 _“Would it be so bad?”_ asked the voice _“to be in love? You said it yourself. You’ve been through so much together…and he kind of followed you here after knowing you were leaving…what if he feels the same way about you and you never know because you try to deny how you truly feel?”_

“How would I know? I’m not even sure of how I feel…that’s the problem….” Makoto replied continuing the monologue inside his mind.

 _“Or maybe…”_ the voice said _“you do know how you feel and try to suppress it out of fear…”_

“Fear of what, exactly?” Makoto asked.

 _“Of being rejected…left alone…Haru has been one of the very few constants in your life…always there by your side…no matter what. It’s normal to be afraid of losing this kind of friendship. But if you force yourself to ignore what your heart is telling you…it’ll keep coming out whether you like it or not…as in your dreams…or the heat that invades every inch of your body every time you see him. You’d better do something about it, or it’ll be more difficult to endure over time…after all, love is something to enjoy, to be happy about…not to be in pain for…”_ the voice trailed off and disappeared.

~

It was sunday and Nagisa and Rei were downtown for the afternoon. They had planned to go to the karaoke place they liked so much, and then have dinner in a restaurant nearby. They were about going inside the karaoke room, when Nagisa’s phone started ringing.

“Huh? Who could that be?” he said while looking for the phone inside his backpack. “Oh! Mako-chan! What’s up?”

“Hey, Nagisa…uhmmm…do you have some time? I think I finally figured out…that stuff…we were talking about when you were here…” Makoto responded with an unsure voice.

“Oh! Really?! Good! That’s very good! Just give me a second…” he covered the speaker with his hand and turned to Rei “hey Rei-chan, it’s Mako-chan, mind if we skip karaoke? I think he really needs to talk right now”

Rei smiled understandingly and replied “Sure, let’s go to the café on the other side of the street”

“Is Rei there with you?” asked Makoto on the other side of the line.

“Uhmm…well…yeah…but don’t worry, I won’t say anything if you don’t want me to…”

“No, it’s fine. Maybe he can help too.”

“Ok then. Let me get out of here and I’ll call you back in a minute”

They crossed the street, sat at one of the café tables and Nagisa turned the speaker on.

“Ok Mako-chan, all set.” said Nagisa.

“Good afternoon, Makoto-senpai”

“Hello Rei. So…I don’t know if Nagisa told you…about we-well…” Makoto’s voice trailed off.

“Uh..yeah…he was just telling me…” Rei lied.

“I think…no…I’m sure…now…” Makoto started speaking in a surprisingly confident voice “Now, I’m really sure of how I feel about Haru…and the truth is…that I’m in love with him…” Rei and Nagisa let out a little gasp, but didn’t say anything as they smiled silently to each other “but…what I don’t know is what to do about it…” he continued, insecurity coming back to his tone. “I don’t know if I should tell him or to keep this to myself…acknowledging it was difficult enough…I’m not sure if I can handle rejection…I really don’t want to put our friendship at risk…”

Rei looked at Nagisa in the eye, asking for permission silently, to which the other boy just smiled and nodded.

“Makoto-senpai…I know it may be not the best time to tell you this…but…Nagisa-kun and I…went through the same thing not long ago…”

“Eh?!” was all that Makoto could say.

“I started having more…intense…feelings about Nagisa-kun…deep inside my heart…and at first, I couldn’t understand a single thing. There was nothing logical about it, no theories that could explain it…I was very confused. But then, when I felt more lost than ever, Nagisa-kun realized I was behaving strangely…and asked me what was wrong…out of desperation, I couldn’t control myself…and I just blurted out something like ‘please go out with me!’…”

Nagisa giggled a little, but didn’t interrupt Rei and let him continue with his tale while looking at him with dreamy eyes. Makoto just kept silent.

“I know it sounds dumb…but I guess there was no other way around it…these emotions are not something we can just put away and ignore…and thanks to me not reigning over my mouth, here we are…” Rei kept going, as he took Nagisa’s hand into his “as it turns out, Nagisa-kun returned those feelings, and I can’t imagine being happier than I am right now…”

“Rei-chan…” whispered Nagisa with a slightly trembling voice.

“So I guess what I’m saying is…that you’ll never know until you try…no matter how crazy or illogical the situation might be…and I fully understand how afraid you’d be of losing Haruka-senpai…but given the fact that you’ve been friends for so long and understand each other so well, I really doubt something so dire would happen”

“Uhn…”Makoto agreed “so you really think I should talk to Haru about this?”

“Of course Mako-chan!” exclaimed Nagisa.

“But…how? I’ve never done something like this before….” asked Makoto.

“Hmmm….let me think about it…” replied Rei

“Hey!” Nagisa shouted suddenly “how about that?”

~

Back in Tokyo, Haru was in line for the cashier. He was carrying a basket full of stuff.

“Welcome! Would that be all?” the girl at the cashier said in a cheery voice.

“Uh…yeah…” answered the blue-eyed boy.

“All right then! I’ll start marking up your items. Six pounds of semi-sweet chocolate chips…“ the register made its classic ‘beep’ as the girl passed the barcodes under the scanner “one pound of white chocolate chips…red food coloring…one large heart shaped silicone mold…and ten white choco-pens…” she kept going “Thank you for your purchase!”

Haru payed for everything, got out of the shop with the bags inside his backpack and headed back home.

~

 _“Right. I’ve got all the ingredients I need to make the mackerel dish Haru taught me back then. I wonder if I should make it once before giving it to him…as practice“_ Makoto thought as he arranged everything inside his fridge, when his cellphone started ringing. He picked it up after checking the number ID. “Hey, Nagisa”

“Hello Mako-chan!! How’s everything going? Are you ready for Saturday?” the blonde boy asked.

“Yeah, I just got back home from the super market. I think I’m ready.” Makoto replied.

“Great! Remember, don’t be afraid. Rei-chan and I are cheering on you from here! Have you asked Haru-chan to meet you yet?”

Makoto smiled at Nagisa’s encouragement and responded “Not yet, but I was just about to call him.”

“Ok! Good luck then! You can do it Mako-chan!”

“Thanks!” Makoto said before hanging up. He took a deep breath, prepared himself and dialed Haru’s number.

“Hello?” Haru answered quite faster than usual, which startled Makoto for a moment.

“Ah! Haru!”

“Makoto, what’s up?” the blue-eyed boy asked casually.

“Uhm…well…I-I…I have next Saturday off from school and I already finished my homework…so…I was thinking…maybe…if you want to…we could hang out here at my place, play some videogames and have some dinner…” Makoto knew this wasn’t something they haven’t done before, and that and invitation like this wasn’t completely unusual, but he felt very nervous asking Haru when he knew what he was planning to declare.

“Next Saturday is Valentine’s day, isn’t it?”

“Uh…yeah…” Makoto replied, terrified that Haru had other plans…with someone else.

“All right...” Haru responded “…but let’s make it here instead. Want me to cook dinner?”

Although he couldn’t see it, Makoto was ecstatic and couldn’t help himself from smiling widely at Haru’s response.

“It’s fine! I’ll buy take out and bring it to your place, so you don’t have to stress about it.”

“Ok, I’ll see you Saturday then.”

“Yeah!”

And with that, Makoto hung up and started practicing his mackerel dish. Everything had to be perfect.

~

“Hmmm…”

Haru looked at the fruits of his labor.

 _“Maybe it needs some more white here…and here…yeah…I think that’ll do it”_ he thought after expertly maneuvering the choco-pen and drawing some more squiggly lines over the gigantic piece of chocolate that laid over his counter.

 _“He likes chocolate, I hope he likes this one”_ he thought again while smiling with that gentle smile he reserved only for anything related to Makoto.

~

“All right! I’m ready!” Makoto said after wrapping the pot containing the mackerel dish with aluminum foil. He put the pot in a bag, took his backpack and got out of the apartment.

He had no experience whatsoever in the dating field. He really hadn’t had much interest in girls before, but he just assumed it was because he had other things in mind, like his family, school and the swimming club. He didn’t want to think of this being a date though, because it was supposed to be a casual get-together with Haru.

 _“Yeah, I’m just going to casually tell him that I’m in love with him…”_ he thought, which made his palms sweaty.

He stood in front of Haru’s door, took a deep breath to calm down a little and rang the bell.

“…”

He rang the bell again, but there was still no answer.

“C’mon Haru…not today…I really don’t need this today…”

He sighed and tried turning the doorknob, just like he did everyday, but this time, the door didin’t open.

“Huh? It’s…locked…”

He didn’t know why, but an unexpected sadness took hold of him and nasty thoughts went rapidly through his mind over and over again.

“Maybe he forgot I was coming…that must be it…he just...forgot…”

He dropped his gaze and turned around, ready to go back home, when he heard the sound of hurried steps coming from inside.

“Makoto!” Haru called out after opening the door a little out of breath.

“Haru? Are you…okay?” asked the taller boy.

“Uhmm…yeah…” Haru responded in a quiet voice and turning his face away “sorry to keep you waiting…I was just…arranging some stuff around…”

Makoto’s face lit up immediately, and eventhough he thought it was a little weird for Haru to be doing that kind of thing, he let it go and smiled back at him.

“It’s okay, I just got here.”

“Come in then…” Haru said while holding the door open for his friend “what did you get for dinner? “

“Uhmm…we-well…I actually co-cooked something…” muttered Makoto looking down.

“Uh?”

“…be-because…th-there’s…something I-I…need to talk to you about…” he stuttered as he felt the heat going to his face rapidly.

“Uh…ok…I need to talk with you too…”

An awkward silence fell over them as Makoto stepped into the room and sat on his usual side of Haru’s table but he didn’t look up. He knew Haru was in front of him and couldn’t muster up the courage to turn his face to him.

But then, something on the table caught his attention.

 _“Is this a…tablecloth?...”_ he thought slowly lifting his face to look further “ _plates?...g-glasses…napkins?...and a tealight too?...”_

“So…” Haru said interrupting his table inspection “…what did you want to tell me?”

“Eh?!” Makoto blurted out and looked up to his friend out of reflex. Haru had his face turned down and was staring at the floor just like he was a few moments ago.

 _“That’s weird…”_ the green-eyed boy thought _“is he…is he blushing?”_

“You…you just said you wanted to talk to me about something…” Haru continued still looking at the tatami floor.

Usually, Makoto didn’t have a hard time figuring out what Haru was thinking, but he was too nervous to focus and use the almost telepathic connection they seemed to share. Not to mention, he was too confused by the fact that Haru really looked quite flustered.

“Uh…uhmm…y-yeah…b-but…” Makoto stuttered “but…it’s…it’s embarrassing…” he said turning his gaze down again.

“Haru…” Makoto whispered “I…I-I’m in love with you!” he yelled suddenly, lifting his face to see him right in the eye.

“Wha…?” was all that the other boy could say.

“I…I don’t know if it’s weird!…I don’t know if I should be saying this because I don’t know if you love me too and I don’t want to lose you! But…but…” he went on “I…I realized how much I care about you…and I just wanted you to know it…” he finished returning his eyes to the floor. His heart seemed to stop beating for a moment, and he just sat there, unable to move, with his eyes shut tight.

Haru let out a little laugh, which made Makoto look back at him.

“Ha-Haru?” he asked.

“I love you too, Makoto” replied the other boy with a sweet look in his eyes and a gentle smile on his face. “I love you…” he continued “…and that`s what I wanted to tell you too…it’s Valentine’s day after all.”

Makoto gasped just a little and beamed.

“Ha-Haru…”

“C’mon…let’s eat…I really want to taste your food” Haru said still smiling.

“Yes!” Makoto replied a little teary-eyed.

~

“Thank you for the food.” Haru said putting his chopsticks down.

“No problem!” Makoto replied unable to stop smiling “did you like it?”

“Yeah, it was very good. You really remembered how to cook that.”

“Of course I would! You were the one who showed me how.” the taller boy added with happiness in his voice.

” I…made something for you too…” muttered Haru blushing a little.

“Eh?...really!?” Makoto asked smiling wider than he ever thought possible.

“Uhm…yeah…but it’s in the other room…let me go get it…” Haru continued while getting up and clearing the table.

“Ok!”

Makoto was ecstatic. He couldn’t believe how everything turned out. He was so happy and so relieved that he felt like his ribs wouldn’t be able to contain his heart inside his chest. He was just thinking about calling Nagisa right after leaving Haru’s place, when he came back into the room carrying with both of his arms what seemed to be a humongous heart-shaped paper weight.

“Ha-Haru?!” he said wide-eyed “wh-what…is that?!”

“It’s chocolate” Haru responded calmly “I know how much you like it, so I made some myself” he finished while putting the chocolate down on the table with a loud thump and sitting beside Makoto.

“Eh?!” Makoto said looking at the really huge confection in front of him.

It had ‘I love you Makoto’ written in big white chocolate letters, and was decorated with pink and white chocolate lines all around.

“What is it? You don’t like it?” Haru inquired quietly and turning his face down.

Makoto reached for Haru’s hand under the table and entwined their fingers gently, which made Haru blush again and look back at him with his eyes wide open.

“Thank you, Haru.” Makoto said with a sweet smile “I love it, I really do.”

“Uhn…no problem” replied Haru smiling too.

**Author's Note:**

> First of all, thank YOU for reading this!! I really hope you liked :) 
> 
> This is officially my first MakoHaru fic, so I'm a bit nervous about letting it out for the world to read XD I'll be writing some more entries for the festival, so go to the link in the summary section or keep an eye out here in ao3 to check them out! :D 
> 
> A special thank you to my seestra for beta-ing this work, and my friend and freels companion Bonnie for fangirling with me about these beautiful swimming dorks TwT


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